The millipede genus Tasmaniosoma Verhoeff, 1936 (Diplopoda, Polydesmida, Dalodesmidae) from Tasmania, Australia, with descriptions of 18 new species
Author
Mesibov, Robert
Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Launceston, Australia
text
ZooKeys
2010
2010-03-26
41
4
31
80
journal article
22685
10.3897/zookeys.41.420
ea2c4da4-3899-41cd-80f4-b7df9302da79
1313–2970
576649
FC5CFE57-05F9-4685-BC02-BB82AB9E4894
Tasmaniosoma
maria
sp. n.
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:
F33C87DA-B288-4E93-8CA5-C8A744522097
Fig. 18B; map
Fig. 24
Holotype
.
Male
,
Australia
,
Tasmania
,
Maria Island
,
Four Mile Creek
,
42°37'20"S
148°04'11"E
(
EN
876804) ±
250 m
,
60 m
,
14 August 1991
,
R
. Mesibov,
QVM 23
:46760, dissected, in genitalia vials.
Paratypes
.
1 male
,
4 females
,
Pine Hut Creek
,
Maria Island
,
Tas
,
42°39'25"S
148°05'49"E
(
EN
898765) ±
250 m
,
20 m
,
13 August 1991
,
R
. Mesibov,
QVM 23
:46759
;
1 male
,
2 females
,
Blind Creek
,
Maria Island
,
Tas
,
42°42'24"S
148°04'42"E
(
EN
882710) ±
250 m
,
120 m
,
15 August 1991
,
R
. Mesibov,
QVM 23
:46761
.
Other
material.
None known.
Diagnosis
.
Metatergites without tubercles; ring 6 sternite with discrete setal brushes on anterior margin; gonopod telopodite with stout, rod-like setae in longitudinal tract on posteromedial surface and flattened lateral and medial processes with irregular apical margins on either side of a large, central laminate process.
Description
.
Male/female approximate measurements: length 16/
16 mm
, ring 12 paranota width 2.1/
1.9 mm
. Live colour not known; in alcohol, uniformly pale yellowish brown or decoloured.
Male as for
T. armatum
in most non-gonopod details, but overall widths tergite 6>5>4>3>(2,head)>collum, antennomere 3 longest, ring 12 paranota 1.4 × as wide as prozonite. Ring 6 sternite as for
T. armatum
, but with very short, thin sternal tab by leg 6, not bearing setae.
Gonopod telopodite (Fig. 18B) straight, tapering distally, somewhat constricted just above base, posteriorly thickened as ridge running distally, divided above ca 2/3 telopodite height into cluster of six processes: (a) medial, rod-like, acuminate process directed distally and slightly anteriorly; (b) medial, flattened process with expanded tip and fimbriate distal margin, directed posterodistally; (c) medial, slen- der solenomere bent posteriorly near tip; (d) large, mediolaterally flattened laminate process with curved margin, broken posteriorly by U-shaped notch, the distal border of notch slightly extended and acute; (e) anterior lateral process rod-like, directed anterolaterally, tip slightly flattened and minutely toothed; (f) posterior lateral process rod-like, acuminate, directed posterodistally. Sparse, fine setae running from base distally on lateral side of posterior ridge to ca 1/3 telopodite height; mid-lateral, longitudinal line of 3–4 fine setae; 30–40 stout, rod-like setae from ca 1/3 to 2/3 telopodite height on posteromedial surface. Prostatic groove running on medial surface more or less directly to solenomere base, curving slightly around base of medial process with fimbriate tip. (Note: Fig. 18B is a reconstruction drawn from a
paratype
and modified using the
holotype
. None of the three available males has undamaged gonopods, and the stout, rod-like setae are almost all broken off, detectable only as large setal sockets.)
Female with posterior margin of epigynum raised medially as large, rounded triangle with irregular edge.
Distribution
.
So far known from eucalypt forest at three localities on North and South Maria Island, with a maximum separation of ca
10 km
(
Fig. 24
). Co-occurs with
T. armatum
at Four Mile Creek, and
T. armatum
has also been collected at Ned Ryans Creek, between the two
T. maria
localities on North Maria Island.
Etymology
.
Noun in apposition; all known specimens are from Maria Island.
Remarks
.
The assignment of the Pine Hut Creek and Blind Creek females to
T. maria
is tentative. Th ey are larger than females of sympatric
T. armatum
but are otherwise very similar.